OAE Music (032) cheat sheet

Key-signature order: sharps appear F–C–G–D–A–E–B; flats appear B–E–A–D–G–C–F (the reverse sequence).

Triad interval sizes in semitones above the root: major 4+3, minor 3+4, diminished 3+3, augmented 4+4.

Seventh-chord figured bass: 7 = root position, 6/5 = first inversion, 4/3 = second inversion, 4/2 (or 2) = third inversion; triads are 5/3, 6, and 6/4.

Cadence types: perfect authentic (V–I, soprano on 1), imperfect authentic (V–I, soprano on 3 or 5), half (ends on V), plagal (IV–I), deceptive (V–vi).

Transposing instruments sound below written pitch: B-flat = major 2nd down, F = perfect 5th down, E-flat alto sax = major 6th down, A clarinet = minor 3rd down.

Modes ordered bright to dark: Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Locrian.

Clefs: treble = G clef on line 2; bass = F clef on line 4; alto = C clef on line 3 (viola); tenor = C clef on line 4 (bassoon, upper cello).

Harmonic series partials 1–4 are root, octave, perfect 5th, double octave; partial 7 is roughly 31 cents flatter than the notated minor seventh.

Voice-leading convention: keep the upper three voices within an octave of each other and avoid doubling the leading tone or the third of a first-inversion triad.

Medieval (c. 500–1400): monophonic Gregorian chant, then Notre Dame organum (Léonin, Pérotin); Ars Nova (Vitry, c. 1320) brought mensural notation and isorhythm.

Renaissance (c. 1400–1600): imitative modal polyphony (Josquin, Palestrina), the Italian madrigal, and Ottaviano Petrucci's music printing in 1501.

Baroque (c. 1600–1750): basso continuo and figured bass, ritornello form, terraced dynamics, and opera from the Florentine Camerata to Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607).

Classical (c. 1750–1820): sonata form, the symphony and string quartet; Haydn and Mozart codified the style, Beethoven expanded its scale and harmonic range.

Romantic (c. 1820–1900): program music and the tone poem (Berlioz, Liszt), the art song (Schubert), expanded chromatic harmony, and Wagner's leitmotifs.

Twentieth century: Debussy's Impressionism, Schoenberg's twelve-tone method (1923), Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (1913), Cage's 4′33″ (1952), and minimalism (Reich, Glass).

American traditions: Sousa marches, spirituals and blues, New Orleans jazz, Copland's Americana ballets, and Bernstein's musical theater.

World music systems: gamelan uses slendro (five-tone) and pelog (seven-tone) tunings; Indian music pairs raga (melody) with tala (rhythm cycle); Arabic maqam includes microtones.

Standard beat patterns: 2 = down, up; 3 = down, out, up; 4 = down, left across the body, right outward, up; 6 = down, left, left, right, right, up.

The preparatory beat conveys the tempo, dynamic, and articulation of the beat that follows; an entrance on beat 1 is therefore cued by an upbeat, not a downbeat.

The ictus is the instant the hand changes direction at the beat point; a crisp ictus produces rhythmic precision, a soft ictus a legato attack.

Division of labor: the right hand maintains the pattern and tempo; the left hand supplies cues, dynamic shaping, cutoffs, and phrasing.

Balance rule of thumb (pyramid): melody most prominent, bass next, inner voices softest, adjusted for texture and historical style.

Typical SATB ranges: soprano C4–A5, alto G3–E5, tenor C3–A4, bass E2–E4.

Equal temperament widens just major thirds by about 14 cents and narrows perfect fifths by about 2 cents; string players tune pure fifths and adjust thirds by ear.

Rehearsal sequence: identify the specific error, isolate it (slow tempo, single section or voice), correct it, then reintegrate at performance tempo.

Score types: a transposed score prints written pitches for transposing instruments; a C score prints sounding (concert) pitches.

National Core Arts Standards (2014): four artistic processes - Creating, Performing/Presenting/Producing, Responding, Connecting - elaborated in 11 anchor standards.

Formative assessment is ongoing and used to adjust instruction; summative assessment measures achievement at the end of a unit or course and usually yields a grade.

Backward design (Wiggins & McTighe): identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, then plan learning experiences and instruction.

Rubric types: analytic rubrics score each criterion separately; holistic rubrics assign one overall score to the whole performance.

Kodály approach: movable-do solfège, Curwen hand signs, rhythm syllables, and sequenced folk-song literature moving from simple to complex.

Orff-Schulwerk: speech, body percussion, barred instruments, and elemental improvisation, sequenced from imitation through exploration to creation.

Dalcroze eurhythmics teaches rhythm and expression through bodily movement; Gordon's Music Learning Theory centers on audiation, or inner hearing.

Bloom's revised taxonomy, low to high: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create; objectives should be written at the intended cognitive level.

Legal mandates: IEPs under IDEA and Section 504 plans require documented accommodations, while Universal Design for Learning builds access into the lesson design itself.